Vocabulary Study Sheet Hardware and Software

USB Drive

A small removable memory device that plugs into a computer's USB port

Compact Flash

Popular memory card that uses flash memory to store data on a very small card

Firewire

Used for high-speed communication and data transfer between devices

Open Source

Any program whose programming code is made available for use or modification by users

Copyleft

The idea and the specific stipulation when distributing software that the user will be able to copy it freely, examine and modify the source code, and redistribute the software to others (free or priced) as long as the redistributed software is also passed along with the stipulation.

Operating System

Software controlling the overall operation of a computer

MP3

A standard technology and format for compressing a sound sequence into a very small file (about one-twelfth the size of the original file)